MPAA turns attention to USENET, takes on Torrentspy, Isohunt, others

The MPAA has launched another round of lawsuits, this time expanding their …

The MPAA has filed (PDF) seven more lawsuits in their ongoing efforts to "thwart illegal file swapping on major pirate networks." The targets are various high-traffic web sites that facilitate piracy using services like BitTorrent, eDonkey, and USENET. The MPAA hopes that shutting down these web sites will make it more difficult for the "pirate networks" to accumulate and distribute copyrighted material.

Popular sites Torrentspy and Isohunt are among those listed in the press release as piracy perpetrators presently under scrutiny. According to the MPAA, these sites provide illegal access to tens of thousands of copyrighted works, and facilitate millions of illegal downloads.

The latest legal assault is unique in that it also includes the first MPAA lawsuits against web sites like NZB-Zone.com and BinNews.com that help users orchestrate USENET piracy. According to MPAA executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations John G. Malcom, the MPAA is now vigorously pursuing legal action against web site operators that aid and promote piracy on the Internet:

Website operators who abuse technology to facilitate infringements of copyrighted works by millions of people are not anonymous - they can and will be stopped. Disabling these powerful networks of illegal file distribution is a significant step in stemming the tide of piracy on the Internet."

In the past year, the MPAA has shut down about 75 separate Torrent and eDonkey sites. Last week, they successfully toppled the Razorback2 eDonkey server, which was one of the largest in the world with over 1 million simultaneous users at any given time. The MPAA's approach is clear: target the front-ends if the backend network is untouchable.

Is the MPAA fighting a battle it can't hope to win? It depends on the victory conditions. Certainly many of these web sites will be replaced with others, and life will go on; this has happened more than once before in the wake of a major torrent search-site takedown. Of course, most are in agreement that even if the MPAA's aggressive legal tactics finally manage to put the public realm of piracy under close watch, users will simply move towards private file sharing networks that will allow them to evade detection and unwanted snooping. One must ask, however, if this is not the point. If piracy cannot be eliminated, driving it underground may seem like the next best option.

Although the MPAA's frustration with piracy facilitators is understandable, the MPAA could better serve its own interests by working to establish a legal alternative to file sharing that can provide consumers with flexible and affordable Internet content delivery capable of meeting the needs of modern consumers.